After rolling a pair of 289 games earlier in the round, Rhino Page of Topeka, Kan., closed the opening round of match play with a perfect game Thursday night to take the lead in the Professional Bowlers Association’s H&R Block Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes.

Page, bowling in his first Tournament of Champions, finished the fourth round averaging 240.3 for his 32 games taking a 23–pin lead over Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, Texas. Earlier in the day, Page jumped into contention when he started the third round with three consecutive 279 games.

“It was a roller coaster day,” said the 25-year-old left-hander, a two-time titlist on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour. “Fortunately, my peaks were really high and my valleys weren’t too low. I had a 289 in my first game tonight and I got really relaxed. Getting loose caught up with me and I lost my focus and bowled a 170 game. I got so mad at myself after that one that I could actually feel my ears burning, but it helped me get my focus back.”

Page, the reigning PBA Rookie of the Year, is trying not to think about making the TV show in his quest for his first major title, but he did admit to getting momentarily caught up in a case of star-gazing when the event got underway.

“When I reported to my starting lanes at the start of the tournament, I found out two of my boyhood idols were right there,” he said. “Parker Bohn III was on my pair, and Mike Aulby was next to me. Just to be in the same event with two of the guys I’ve idolized my whole career was a thrill.”

Bowling alongside a pair of PBA Hall of Famers actually motivated Page, but he never took his eyes off the bigger prize.

“I’m going to stay focused and not get into a mode where I think I’m locked into the TV show,” he said. “You can’t be thinking about winning a major. If you get complacent against any of these guys, you’ll get your butt kicked.”

Earlier Thursday, Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., finished in 39th place, failing to advance to match play and ending his bid to win a record fourth consecutive PBA major title.

The top 24 will bowl two more eight-game match play rounds Friday, after which the top four will advance to Sunday’s stepladder finals. ESPN will air the finals live at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern, 9:30 a.m. Pacific) on ESPN.

First prize in the tournament is $50,000 plus a two-year Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exemption.

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